Background
McFarlane was born on 20 June 1954.
McFarlane was born on 20 June 1954.
He studied law at Collingwood College, Durham, and graduated from Durham University in 1975.
McFarlane was called to the bar (Gray"s Inn) in 1977 and has been a Bencher since 2003. In 1998, he became a Queen"s Counsel. He was appointed an Assistant Recorder in 1995 and a Recorder in 1999.
The next year, he was named a Deputy High Court Judge.
He was appointed to the High Court of Justice on 18 April 2005 and assigned to the Family Division, receiving the customary knighthood. McFarlane served as the Family Division Liaison Judge for the Midland Circuit from 2006 until his appointment as a Lord Justice of Appeal on 28 July 2011, whereupon he received the customary appointment to the Privy Council.